Digimon World: Children Of Destiny
by DaekerCroft
Summary: When the chosen ones fail, who's left to save the world? Hundreds of children between the ages of 8-17 are going missing meanwhile a mysterious virus is wreaking havoc with technology. Jeishita Homaji's best friend Shion was among the people to go missing, and is search for her leads him into a struggle for survival in the digital world.
1. CHAPTER ONE

**DIGIMON WORLD**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 _A Fan Fiction By DaekerCroft_

 **-CHAPTER ONE-**

 _-Revised Edition-_

There was nothing left to say that hadn't been said a thousand times over, yet more news reports continued to flood the airwaves every day. More children between the ages of ten and seventeen reported missing within Japan, fowl play suspected, no evidence left behind of any kind. Meanwhile, nobody payed any attention to the silent invasion that was happening right in front of them, attacking the world at it's very core. Few noticed, and the ones who did passed it off as a minor technical malfunction, while others wrote it off completely. These errors and malfunctions were happening all over the globe, harmless at first, but slowly beginning to cripple major systems. No one had any idea what was truly going on...

It had been well over a month since Shion's disappearance, but to Jeishita it seemed like only yesterday that the two of them were running around Odaiba thick as thieves. At first Shion's parents had told him that she was away at camp for the summer, but in reality they were trying to spare Jei the horrible truth. The last night he saw Shion, the two of them had fighting, but he couldn't remember why. Perhaps he didn't want to. He had stormed off and left her to walk home by herself. She was sixteen, nearly two and a half years older than fourteen year old Jei, but she had the emotional maturity of a nine year old. Since that night, Jei spent every waking moment wondering if maybe things would have turned out differently had he stayed with her.

There was a knock on Jei's bedroom door, snapping him out of his trance of self pitty and returning him to cruel reality. He got up from the chair where he had spent the better part of a month moping and opened the door to find his Mother, standing there with the same worried expression that had been etched onto her face since all of this started. From her point of view, it very well could have been her own son that had gone missing that night, and even though he had come home just fine, she still felt like she had lost him. She hated watching him waste away like this, knowing that he blamed for what had happened.

"Jeishita, sweety" his mother began has she stepped into the room "I know your still upset, but Shion wouldn't want you to waste away in here like this".

"Yeah?" Jei snapped back "and how would you know? You never liked her anway! You said you didn't want her here! You're probably happy she's gone!"

It was true that Shion had never been on the best of terms with Jei's family. For one thing, she was older, a fact his father very much disliked, and for another, her emotional maturity had landed both her and Jei in hot water on more than one occasion. His mother stood there for a moment, completely unsure what to say. She eventually gave a defeated sigh and started for the door.

"Shion's father called, they are cleaning out her room later today" she said as she left the room, "I thought you might want to know".

Jei's eyes widened as his mother closed the door behind her. What!? he thought to himself She's only been gone a month! How could they do this!?. Jei ran to his dresser and grabbed the first items of clothing he could find; plain black jeans, a white shirt, and a dark red jacket that had been hanging on his bedpost. He sped out the front door of his house, hopped on his bike and began tearing down the road towards Shion's apartment.

When Jei arrived, he hit the breaks so hard that he nearly flew over his handle bars. He ran up to the front door and began frantically buzzing Shion's apartment number, hoping that there would be a reply.

"H-Hello...?" came a tired female voice "who is there?"

"It's Jeishita Homaji!" Jei yelled into the voice box "Please, you gotta let me in!".

There was a long pause. Jei began to wonder if they had decided to just ignore his request, but just as he was about to turn away, there came a loud buzzing sound as the electronic lifted and the door gave way. He swung it open and wasted no time making for the elevator just down the hall, only to find that it had apparently been out of service for quite some time. Just another minor technical malfunction he supposed. Jei ran up about twelve flights of stairs and was nearly out of breath by the time he had arrived at the right floor. He made his way down to the end of the hall where Shion's appartment was and knocked on the door. He waited some time, and was about to knock again when the door flew open and there stood Shion's mother. She had a miserable defeated look about her, but managed to greet her guest with a smile all the same.

"Mrs. Yamamura!" Jei said bowing respectfully, "You're not really clearing out Shion's room already, are you? You can't have given up hope so easily!".

"It's not that we've given up hope" Shion's mother said, her forced smile fading into a sad expression, "It's just that every little thing reminds us of her and we just can't bare it".

The door opened wider as a man quite a bit taller than Mrs. Yamamura stepped into the doorway. It was shion's father, Hideki Yamamura. He was a bit older than Mrs. Yamamura, but was still very strong and wise looking. He gave Jei a smile when he saw him, which seemed less forced than his wife's. Hideki had always liked having Jei around, he felt that he was good for Shion and had once even told him that he was like the son he never had.

"Jei" he said trying his best to sound upbeat, "It's good to see you around, your mother said that you haven't been out of your room for some time. Please, come in!" Mr. Yamamura opened the door the rest of the way and led Jei inside.

"I had a feeling that you might want to take a look around Shion's room before we finish clearing everything out" Hideki continued, "Thats why I gave your mother a call".

Mr. Yamamura escorted Jei down to Shion's room while his wife put on a kettle of tea. The room already looked very different. Most of the posters had been removed from the walls and boxes of Shion's books were stacked in the corner.

"Take all the time you need" Hideki said, "I will go see how the tea is coming".

Shion's father left to check on his wife, closing the door behind him and leaving Jei alone with his thoughts. His eyes scanned the room, looking for any part of it that still looked familier. Shion's desk was still littered with her notes and drawings, as well as pieces of a card game that the two had often played together. Where could you have gone? Jei thought with a deep sigh. He began looking through the drawings on the desk. Shion had always been a much better artist than him, but she was a good sport when it came to her talents and never rubbed it in anyone's face. Jei began to notice, that the deeper he looked, the stranger the drawings became. Vast landscapes being taken over by some kind of darkness, and mysterious creatures running in terror. One in particular caught his eye, a drawing of a strange blue creature with remarkable attention to detail.

"You always did have an amazing imagination" Jei said to himself, "Please be okay, wherever you are".

A sudden and strange noise from behind him made him jump, almost toppling over as he spun around to investigate, but there was nothing there. Placing the drawings back on Shion's desk, Jei decided to investigate further, heading in the direction of the sound. It seemed like it had to have come from Shion's bed, or rather, from under it. Jei kneeled down and reached underneath. At first, all he could find was crumpled paper, likely half finished drawings that Shion decided weren't good enough to bother finishing. Suddenly, the sound came again, clearer and louder this time, high pitched like some kind of electronic chirp. Startled, Jei ended up bumping his head on the wooden bedframe, causing him a few brief seconds of disorientation. He squinted his eyes to try to adjust to the darkness and noticed a faint light that was just out of reach. He pulled himself out from under the bed and looked around for something to reach it with. He saw a long wooden sword resting in the corner and grabbed it by the end, reaching back under the bed and using the handle to pull the glowing object towards him. Once it was close enough, Jei grabbed it with his free hand and pulled it the rest of the way out.

It was some kind of device, almost like a cell phone but smaller. It had only a small square screen and three buttons on it, and though it had been lit up just a moment before, it now seemed to be dead. With a loud click, the door to Shion's room began to open. Jei didn't have much time to react. He didn't know why, but he chose to hide the strange device in his pocket rather than showing it to Shion's parents. Jei got to his feet and just a momen't later, Hideki stepped into the room.

"The tea is almost ready if you would like some" he said with a smile "It's lemon ginger, best served piping hot!"

Jeishita took a look out the window and saw that the sun was already sinking beneath the horizon. Soon it would be pitch black, and with everything that had been going on, walking home in the dark was the very last thing that he wanted to do.

"Than you Mr. Yamamura," Jei began "But it's getting pretty late, I should probably get home"

"Fair enough, you don't want to be walking around after dark" Mr. Yamamura replied, "Especially not now. Just be careful out there, okay?"

By the time Jei had gotten down stairs, it was almost completely dark. Although there was still a faint glimmer of sunlight on the horizon, the shadows cast by the tall buildings lining the street had cloaked everything around them in darkness. Luckily, some of the street lights were already on, giving Jei a partially lit path to follow home. He looked and looked but soon realised that he couldn't find his bike anywhere. It certainly wasn't where he had left it, nor did it seem to be anywhere nearby. Seriously? he thought to himself, as if this day wasn't bad enough. He began walking back in the direction of his house. From here, it was all up hill and he would have ended up walking his bike up anyway, but he still resented that fact that someone had apparently stolen it. It had once belonged to Shion who had given it to Jei as a gift when she got a new one for her fifteenth birthday. It wasn't the most functional bike, but he cherished it deeply.

Jei was about halfway home when he noticed the sound of footsteps close behind him. At first, he thought nothing of it, he guessed that it was pobably just someone walking their dog, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to look. After a while, the footsteps became louder and closer, it sounded as if there were at least two sets of steps following, so finally he worked up the courage to look behind him, and immediately wished he hadn't. Two figures dressed all in black, their faces completely hidden behind dark hoods were keeping pace behind him, slowly gaining momentum and drawing closer as he noticed them. Jei tried to remain calm, walking casually for another block or so, but as soon as he was around the corner, he made a break for it, hoping that he could gain some ground while he was out of their line of sight. To his dismay, they were almost immediately on his tail and there was no longer any doubt that they were after him. As he ran, Jei saw a huge storage warehouse just up ahead and the first chance he got, Jei ducked inside, hoping to lose his persuers inside. It seemed to be some kind of old tech warehouse. Computers, monitors and other pieces of machinery were piled high on large shelves and scattered on the floor, creating a dark, narrow maze in which he became immediately lost. Though he could no longer see them, he still heard their footsteps of his followers close behind him, even as he bobbed and weaved a frantic trail through the maze of old disguarded tech. He rounded a corner and found himself at a dead between a wall of old monitors and shelves tighly packed with old motherboards and other useless junk. He turned arouned in hopes of finding another route only to discover the two figures blocking his path, they had cornered him like a rat.

The first of the two figures spoke in a deep, raspy, clearly masculine voice; "This human, he has the digivice, I can sense it".

While the second figure spoke in a much lighter and distinctly femanine voice. "I sense it too, but I also sense that it doesn't belong to him. He knows not the power contained within, nor can he hope to possess it".

"Wh-Who are you!?" Jei said stepping back against the wall "What do you want!?".

"We wan't the digivice" the female figure said, "hand it over human!".

"Post haste" Said the male, "and perhaps we will give you a merciful end".

At first, Jei couldn't figured out what they meant. He was just terrified and confused, wishing more than anything that he had just stayed in his room, but then suddenly it came to him. Digivice? he thought to himself, could they mean the thing from Shion's room?. He pulled the strange device out of his pocket and shakily held it out in front of him.

"This?" he asked "Is this what you're after!?".

"Yes" The female hissed, "hand it over now and your death will be painless".

Despite the situation, Jei suddenly found himself unusually calm, terrified of course, but calm. Normally in any given situation, Shion was the brave one, but she wasn't here now, and so this time Jei had to be the brave one. As far as he could tell, they intended to kill him either way, so why should he make it easy for them?

"Th-Then come get it!" Jei squeaked as he tried in vein to at least pretend that he wasn't afriad, "c-come on, take it from me you big hooded freak!".

"Pathetic fool, false bravery will get you nowhere!" snapped the female figure "now you will suffer by our hands!"

The two figures suddenly removed their hoods, revealing creatures with pale, bluish-gray skin and piercing red eyes. Jei's bravery gave way to fear as he gazed upon the two horrifying figures' true appearances. They began to charge him, moving so swiftly that their feet hardly touched the ground. Just as Jei thought that he was surely about to perish, he heard a familier electronic chirping sound. The "digivice" as the two figures had called it, suddenly sprung to life, glowing even brighter than it had before and the two creatures suddenly stopped in their tracks, looking just as surprised as he did.

"Impossible!" said the male "He shouldn't be able to use the device!"

"It isn't him" the female hissed, "I sense the presence of another!"

Jei cringed as the two creatures screeched and an even brighter light erupted from behind him. He turned around to see the wall of monitors behind him bursting with light. The two figures fled, but Jei couldn't move. He didn't feel right, his arms and legs were buzzing as if they had fallen asleep. He looked down to see them slowly dematerializing before his eyes, as the particles that remained were sucked into the monitors like a vaccum. Before he even knew what was happening, Jei found himself somewhere else, surrounded by darkness, a faint light underneath him far in the distance. Before he had time to react to what was happening, he plumited, spiraling out of control as he fell towards the light.

 _To be continued..._


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**DIGIMON WORLD**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 _A Fan Fiction By DaekerCroft_

 **-CHAPTER TWO-**

 _-Revised Edition-_

Soon, the light below Jei had completely enveloped him, his fall gaining momentum as he continued to spiral out of control. He had lost all sense of where he was and what was happening, the events leading up to his plummit becoming blurred as he spun every which way. Just when he thought his torment would never end, his free fall came to a sudden stop. There was no impact, or anything to determine what had broken his speedy descent, everything was just still. The world around him started coming into focus, as if fading into existance for the first time, and Jeishita suddenly felt whole again.

He felt relieved, to say the least. He was thrilled to be back on solid ground, although it felt unfamilier, and it certainly wasn't the same ground that had been beneath him just moments before. He struggled to his feet and found himself surrounded by a sprawling forest that seemed to go on for miles in every direction. Everything leading up to this moment had left Jei scared and horribly confused and his mind aflutter with questions that likely had no answers. How strange he thought, that there are no birds chirping in this forest. Throught everything that had just happened; being chased by strange creatures, finding himself in an unfamilier place, he found it odd that the lack of birds chirping in the trees was the first thing that really stuck out to him. He was right though, in fact, there didn't seem to be any signs of life anywhere he looked. All was silent, and all was still, not even a breeze. His head throbbed with images of the creatures that had persued him, as if the memory of them was almost too much for his mind to handle. As he collected his thoughts, everything began to come back into focus. The warehouse, the terrifying cloaked figures, the strange device- The device Jei realised. He began feeling around searching for it, but it wasn't on him. He remembered that he had been holding it in his hand when he fell. I must have dropped it he thought to himself, it have landed anywhere.

It seemed like he had been searching for an eternity with no luck. The day had gone bye and another night was nearing it's end, and yet the "digivise", as the two creatures had called it, was still nowhere to be found and Jei was beginning to get hungry. He hadn't slept all night and still had no idea where he was. Jei took one last look around, but it was no use. I have to figure out where I am Jei thought to himself and just how the heck I got here. Jei found what looked to be the tallest tree nearby and began to climb, the rough bark and pine needles digging into his hands and making it difficult to keep his grip. By the time he had reached the top, the sun was already peeking over the horizon, flooding the landscape with light and revealing a strange vast world that was completely new to him. I don't think I'm in Odaiba anymore he thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a strange dark patch in the sky opposite of the horizon, and it was growing, as if slowly consuming everything in it's wake. What the heck is that!? Jei thought.

"Hey up there!" came a voice from below "hey you!"

Startled, Jei lost his footing and toppled out of the tree, hitting no less than three branches on the way down. More falling, just what I need he thought to himself as he dropped This time he felt the impact, although, it wasn't the forest floor that broke his fall, but something softer, and Jei could have sworn he heard a small whimper as he landed.

"Ugh" came the voice again, "would you mind getting off me?".

Jei immediately jumped to his feet to see who he had landed on, only to find what it wasn't a who, but a what! Standing before him was a strange creature with bluish fur standing on it's hind legs, no more than 3 feet tall with floppy ears trailing behing his head, almost like a rabbit's but thinner, droopier and both coming to a point at the end. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something strangely familier about this creature.

"Geez your heavy" said the creature "just what the heck were you doing up there anyway?".

Jei simply looked on in disbelief. This strange creature was speaking to him as if everything about this was completely normal.

"I-I'm, uh" Jei said fumbling with his words, "s-sorry I landed on you. I was just trying to find out where I am and-".

"All in due time Jei" the blue creature said inturrupting Jei's stuttering, "first we need to get you to file city, and by the way, are you by any chance looking for this?"

The blue creature held out it's hand, the strange digivice that Jei had been looking for contained within.

"H-Hey, thats, ugh, that doesn't belong to you and-" Jei started "w-wait a minute... How do you know my name!? W-what are you, how did you find me!?".

"Oh, right I suppose this is going to take some explaining," the creature replied as he placed the digivice in Jei's hand, "My name is Veemon, I'm a Digimon and a close friend of Shion".

"Really?" Jei asked, "because I'm Shion's closest friend and she sure has heck never mentioned beings friends with any digimon or whatever, and that still doesn't explain how you found me!".

"Look Jei, it's complicated, but I'm the one who brought you here, I'm sorry it took so long to find you but I wasn't completely sure where you would end up" Veemon continued, "Shion asked me to find you if anything went wrong. She's in big trouble and I need your help to get her back! Please Jei, not just her, but everyone in the digital world is at risk, everyone in your world too!".

Jei felt faint. First the creatures in the warehouse, and now this? He wasn't at all sure about trusting this strange blue creature, but he needed answers, and so he took a deep breath and gave a nod, trying his best to act calm and collected.

"Alright" Jei said "I'll trust you, but why me? Why not her parents or the police?".

"It's like you said, you're her closest friend!" Veemon replied, "she talked about you a lot, she said if there's anyone that can save her and the others, it's gotta be you! Here in the digital world, a bond like that is stronger than anything else!".

"What do you mean others?" Jei said surprised, "You don't mean to say that the other missing children are here?".

"The children of destiny" said Veemon, "They were chosen as the saviors of this world and yours, the ones with the highest potential to stop the virus from consuming everything, but something went very very wrong and they were captured!". Veemon's face grew grim, "It all started when the first of them began to arrive Each of them had a partner, the digimon that they formed the strongest bond with when they came to this world. They all trained hard to become stronger and more powerful, but soon, many of them became over confident and thought too soon that they were ready to take on the virus at it's core. Their journey was off to a great start, but something went wrong" Veemon explained, "They called them the 'Children of Destiny', they were said to be the ones with the highest potential of stopping the virus which plagues your world and ours."

"Virus?" Jei asked, "You mean that dark patch in the sky?".

Veemon nodded. "When they reached the dark zone where the virus' destruction is at it's worst, some of their partners became corrupted and turned on them." Veemon paused for a moment, trying to hold back his tears, "Others ran away when they saw what was happening. I tried to get Shion out of there, but when I saw the corrupted digimon coming for me, I got scared and ran for it."

the tears were beginning to roll down Veemon's cheeks as he continued, "Now they're all being held prisoner at the virus' core, on the first island the virus destroyed, like some kind of limbo".

Veemon was now balling his eyes out on the ground, the guilt of abandoning his friend eating away at him from the inside. Jei didn't know what to say, everything still felt extremely surreal to him, but he couldn't just stand there and watch this creature sobbing into the dirt. He kneeled down next to the strange blue creature and rested his hand on it's shoulder, attempting to comfort it.

"It sounds like you were completely outnumbered" Jei said "Theres no way it was your fault!".

"But I was supposed to protect her" Veemon sobbed, "I ran when she needed me most!"

"So what if you had stayed? What if you had become corrupted and taken Shion prisoner? Then there would be no hope!" Jei said trying to lift the distraut digimon's spirits. "We can make this right Veemon! I promise I will try to help you any way I can, we can go and get her back!".

Veemon whiped the tears from his face and looked up at Jei. Jei smiled, and Veemon tried his best to smile back as he got to his feet and brushed the dirt and pine needles off of his fur.

"You're right Jei" Veemon said "I can see why Shion likes you so much! Since you're a human, the virus can't control you. If we can find a way to get you inside the dark zone, you can find her and the other chosen kids and bring them back!".

"Yeah!" Jei said trying not to sound unsure, "Then they can put everything right. First we need to get to that Data City you were talking about, we can't just go charging in unprepared!".

"It's FILE city" Veemon replied "and It's just over the horizon, it's still far away from the virus' destruction".

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Jei said encouragingly "Lets go!".

The two of them walked a few straight hours, finally reaching the edge of the vast forest. Ahead of them was a narrow stream that flowed around the treeline like a mote, and across that was a wide open field that went on for miles, at the far end of which, Jei could see the tops of tall buildings peeking out from behind a steep slope. Mustering up the last bit of energy they had left, Jei and Veemon hopped over the stream and sprinted most of the way across the field before being forced to slow to a walking pace by hunger and fatigue.

"We're almost there now" Veemon panted, "the main entrance is all the way on the other side, but theres a tunnel under the hill that leads straight into city".

The tunnel in question turned out to be an overflow pipe constructed to allow water to escape from the interior of the city during heavy. Despite the fact that it was only water that flowed through the pipe, the smell was anything but pleasent. Mildew, mold and rust were just a few of the scents that Jei could make out. The city itself was surrounded by tall hills on each side. He and Veemon exited the overflow pipe in a large gutter than ran the entire perimeter. There were plenty of footholds to climb, making it easy for them to scale the steep walls of the gutter. The came out onto a long road that ran from one end of the city to the other, revealing it to be a much bigger place than Jei had originally thought.

"Before anything else" Veemon began, "we should go and see Jijimon, he's a wise old Digimon and also the one who brought the Children of Destiny here in the first place! He was able to see which of them had the highest potential to form a strong and powerful bond with us Digimon".

"It makes sense that Shion was chosen" Jei said, "when she decides she likes spending time with someone, she is a friend for life whether they like it or not"

"You got that right!" Veemon chuckled, "I've met quite a few humans, but there is no one like her!"

Veemon's gleeful smile faded as the reality of the situation came flooding back, and the two continued their walk in silence. Veemon led Jei down the long central road almost to the exact center of the city. Many of the buildings looked to be made only of wood and bamboo, with a few of them being made of metal. Veemon walked up to a small wooden hut wrenched between two of the tall metal buildings, it looked very out of place. The inside however was quite comfortable and reminded Jei of his grandfather's old dojo that he sometimes visited in the summer.

"Hm? Just who is this?" a harsh voice demanded, "A human I gather, but I sense that he is not one of the chosen, which begs the question..." A short stubby creature remotely resembling an aged master entered the room, a long staff in his left hand defined by the golden bear claw fastened to the end, "Just how did he come to be in this world?".

"I-I brought him here Jijimon" Veemon stuttered, "I think he can help us free Shion and the others!".

"And what makes you think that?" Jijimon asked.

"They're close friends, she spoke very highly of him," said Veemon, "She asked me to bring him here if anything happened to her, and if she thinks he can help, then so do I!".

"Shion is my best friend" Jei said backing the blue Digimon's argument, "if she's in danger, then nothing is gonna stop me from trying to help!".

Jijimon gave an exhausted sigh, turning to the window of his hut and gazing out at the virus in the sky that was slowly infecting the world in the distance.

"He's usually not like this," Veemon whispered, " but when the chosen kids were captured by their own partners, Jijimon felt responcible for not stopping it, but there was really nothing he could have done".

Jijimon's grip on his staff tightened. He turned and looked Jei right in the eye, not that Jei could tell for sure by the mop of gray hair covering Jijimon's face, but he could definetly feel his gaze.

"Hm. I sense that your bond with Shion a powerful, a connection that you and Veemon share" said Jijimon, "perhaps it is even more powerful than the bonds shared by the Children of Destiny and their digimon partners. I really don't know that you can succeed young one, but this world is dying and I am helpless to stop it. As a human, the virus can not control you, so if you really are willing to help us, then I will do all I can to aid your cause".

"Thank you Jijimon!" Veemon exclaimed, "I know that together me and Jei can save them, and then they can fulfill their destinies!".

"I hope you are right" Jijimon sighed stepping closer, "but you must prepare for what awaits, and you Jei" the elderly digimon said coming face to face with him, "you must be prepared to continue alone once you reach the threshold of the dark zone".

Jei looked at Veemon and together they nodded in agreement.

"Let's get started!" Jei said with hightened determination.

 _To be continued..._


	3. CHAPTER THREE

**:**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 **-CHAPTER THREE-**

Jei had never regretted anything so much in his entire life. The three empty bowls in front of him which once were piled high with soft steaming rice seemed like such a good idea a little while ago when he was practically starving, but in hindsight, he probably should have stopped at one. Now, the only thing keeping him going was the thought of the warm bed that awaited him. It felt like forever since Jei had gotten any sleep, being that he hadn't gotten so much as a wink ever since he had arrived in the digital world.

"I can take those if you're done with them" came a voice from behind. "and, no offence, but you don't look so good human".

Jei wretched as his stomach groaned from being over stuffed. He turned his head to see a strange Digimon coming to clear the empty bowls in front of him. He was short, but looked strong. Most of his body was covered by armor, except for his feet which were stubby with sharp claws on each toe making the blunt wooden sword at his side seem pointless.

"Ugh, I just-" he started to say, trying his best to stifle a belch, "enjoyed the rice a bit too much, thats all".

"So I can see!" the digimon said happily "I'm glad you enjoyed it!"

"Wait, so you're the chef too?" Jei asked.

"Indeed, I'm actually quite new here" the digimon replied "Many digimon turned tail and ran when the virus showed up. I kind of took things over after they left. You may call me Kotemon!".

"So, this is your place then?" Jei said properly greeting the digimon "Well, it's nice to meet you Kotemon, I'm Jeishita, but everyone just calls me Jei. I'm new too, I just sort of ended up here".

"Say" Kotemon began "you aren't one of those chosen kids are you? What did they call them?".

"The children of destiny" Jei replied "and no, I'm not one of them. My friend Shion was, Veemon brought me here to rescue her".

"Thats just as noble in my books" Kotemon said "Risking everything to save your friend so that in turn she and the others can save our worlds!".

It was now pitch black outside. Jei guessed that is must have been at least a day and a half since his head had last touched a pillow. He thanked Kotemon for the meal and went on his way. Veemon was supposed to meet him at the restraunt, but he was nowhere in sight. Jei figured that he must still be getting in some last minute training at the gym, so he decided to head there first so they could go back to Jijimon's place together.

"Take the narrow road to the left" Kotemon had said "It will get you there much quicker".

The roads of file city were dead quiet, not that there was much activity during the day with most of it's citizens on the run from the virus. Despite this, Jei couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched from beyond the darkness. The further he went, the more paranoid he became, seeing every shadow as a hiding place for a potential stalker. The gym wasn't far now, so Jei decided to make a run for it. His footsteps began to echo through the streets, which he feared my draw unwanted attention. Jei stopped for a moment to catch his breath, but the footsteps kept going. His paranoia wasn't so unwarrented after all. He turned to see three Digimon moving toward him, spreading out and trying to surround him. Two of them looked like hares with enormous claws standing on their hind legs. The one that spoke was the strangest Jei had seen yet. It had greenish yellow skin, a sharp horn on the top of it's head, and wore another Digimon's fur like a cloak.

"So, another one has come to our world" the digimon said "you will probably abandon us too, just like the others! What are you doing in my territory?"

"Y-Your territory? What are you talking about!?" Jei said slowly backing away "And who abandon you!? The Children of Destiny were captured by corrupted digimon!"

"You really believe that coward Veemon's story?" the digimon asked "Theres no way he went anywhere near that virus! He's just covering for his deserter of a master!".

Jei found himself becoming less fearful, and more enraged by the digimon and his two goons that were slowly backing him into a corner. Shion a deserter? he though to himself She would never run away if she thought she could make a difference!

"Shut up!" Jei yelled "Don't talk about stuff you know nothing about, you big dumb-"

Before Jei could finish, he felt a sharp burning sensation across his face as the Digimon's sharp claws slashed deep into his skin. The blow dazed him, knocking him flat on his back clutching the bleeding wound that now stretched cheek to chin.

"Gabumon don't!" one of the digimon's rabit-like goons yelled, "he's just a kid!"

"Quiet Gazimon!" Gabumon said "We own this street!".

Jei felt helpless. He knew that he'd screwed up. The Digimon that stood before him was already agitated and he had further provoked him. He tried to sit up to face Gabumon, but found he lacked enough strength to lift himself and collapsed back onto the ground as the aggressors drew closer. All Jei could do was close his eyes and wait for it to be over.

"Hey you!" came a voice from behind Gabumon "Leave the kid alone or you'll have to deal with me!".

Jei recognized the voice instantly. The two rabit-like goons parted to make way for Jei's rescuer. It was Kotemon.

"K-Kotemon" Jei said weakly "Don't get involved, he's too strong".

"Don't worry kid" Kotemon said "I can hold my own against these bullies!".

"Well don't just stand there Gazimon!" Gabumon said to his two rabbit-like goons "Let's teach this little imp how wrong he is!".

Jei could tell that the two Gazimon didn't want to obey this command, they were to seemed too intimidated by Gabumon to defy him. Kotemon dodged the first swipe, sending one of the Gazimon tumbling into the wall of the building behind him. Unfortunately, second blow from the other knocked him off balance, and the third blow from Gabumon himself sent hurtling Kotemon into the same wall off of which he rebounded and fell to the ground. Gabumon stood over the injured Kotemon and raised his sharp claws high in the air for a devistating attack.

"Kotemon, no!" Jei yelled at the top of his lungs.

At first nobody knew what was happening. Kotemon was suddenly emitting a strange light, similar to the one that Jei had seen when he had first entered the digital world. It completely enveloped Kotemon and brought him back to his feet looking even stronger than before, but Jei noticed something strange. He was beginning to change.

"Kotemon, digivolve to..." Kotemon started as his voice deepened "Dinohyumon!".

Kotemon emerged from the strange light a completely different digimon than before, bigger and stronger than he was.

"Huh" Dinohyumon grunted "how did this happen?".

Dinohyumon was now a tall lizard-like creature, his mask replaced by a headband with a single feather in the back, and large bladed weapons in place of his blunt wooden sword.

"Well" Dinohymon said clutching his fists "don't look a gift unimon in the mouth!".

Dinohymon payed Gabumon and his two Gazimon goons back in full force, knocking all three to the ground with one powerful swipe. He took once step forward, expecting a return attack, but the attackers were now scrambling to their feet and scuttling off down the street, the two Gazimon whimpering as they fled.

"This isn't over!" Gabumon yelled behind him as he too fled the scene "Not by a long shot!".

Jei looked up at Dinohyumon as he offered him a hand. Jei grabbed ahold as bit as the large Digimon pulled him to his feet.

"H-How did you do that?" Jei asked "How did you change like that?!"

"I'm not sure how" Dinohyumon replied "but it I digivolved".

"Well, thanks Kote-" Jei started "uh, Dinohyumon, but did you know I was in trouble?".

"I uh..." Dinohymon mumbled.

Suddenly, Dinohyumon began to shrink back down to his normal size, the sharp blades disappearing, replaced by his old blunt wooden sword as he returned to his former self.

"Wait... have you been following me since I left the restraunt?" Jei asked

"I was closing up anyway" Kotemon replied back in his original form "and it's late, I wanted to make sure you were okay, some of the Digimon here aren't so friendly".

"No kidding" Jei remarked.

"C'mon kid, let's get that mark on your face patched up" Kotemon said "Where did you say you were staying?".

Jei stayed as close as possible to Kotemon as he showed him the way to Jijimon's hut. The wound on his face from Gabumon's claws hurt even more now, and he was unsure of how much blood he had lost, but it seemed like a lot. The color was completely drained from his face, he looked sickly and pale as a ghost. As they neared the wooden hut, Jei could see Veemon heading up to the front door, no doubt just getting back from the gym. He must have taken the main road and passed eachother Jei thought to himself.

"Jei, you're back too!" Veemon said as he noticed them walking toward him, "wait, whos that with you?".

It was then that Veemon noticed the blood dripping down Jei's cheeks like thick red tears and the armored digimon close beside him.

"Jei, what happened!?" Veemon yelled as he ran to meet them "did he do this to you!?".

"No, it wasn't me" Kotemon said "It was Gabumon and his two Gazimon lackeys".

"It's not that bad, really" Jei said weakly

"You're tough kid, but you took quite a beating" Kotemon said "Veemon, help me get him inside".

Veemon and Kotemon lifted Jei's head up off the pillow while Jijimon wrapped the wound in soft strips of cloth laced with some kind of medicine as the human slept soundly.

"It should heal quickly" Jijimon said "but the scar will be remain for the rest of his life, he's lucky it wasn't worse. Thank you for helping him Kotemon".

"But Jijimon" Veemon asked "how was Kotemon able to digivolve? Jei doesn't even have a digivice!".

"I can't be certain" Jijimon said "but the digivice is just a tool to make digivolving easier. When Kotemon came to rescue Jei in Gabumon's territory, it's possible that it created a bond powerful enough to allow him to digivolve".

"Wait a second" Veemon said turning to Kotemon "what was Jei doing in Gabumon's territory?".

"I..." Kotemon started "I told him to take that road".

'What!?" Veemon yelled as he lept on top of Kotemon, pinning him to the ground "what the heck is wrong with you!? He could have been killed!".

"I didn't know!" Kotemon said trying to shake Veemon off of him "I have only been here a short while, I just knew it was a faster way to the gym, he went there to find you when you didn't meet him at my restraunt".

"Huh?" Veemon said surprised as he tumbled off of Kotemon "but that means... This is all my fault!".

Tears began rolling down Veemon's cheeks. It's Shion all over again Veemon thought to himself I'm a terrible partner.

"It's okay Veemon" Kotemon said "It's nobody's fault except that no good Gabumon and his gang of Gazimon goons".

Kotemon whiped the tears from Veemon's face and together the two digimon sat to watch over Jei as slept, but the they were exhausted as well, and it wasn't long before everyone was asleep.

The sun was beginning to rise, the orange dawn light creeping in through the windows of Jijimon's hut were a blessing after such a long, horrible night. Jei whiped the fogginess out of his eyes, suddenly remembering his encounter as he felt the soft bandaging around his wounds. Veemon and Kotemon were both fast asleep beside his cot, and Jijimon was nowhere in sight, so he decided to lay back down for a while. He didn't want to go back to sleep, so he just lied there staring out the window at the sunrise, partially blocked by the virus slowly growing in the distance. He thought about how angry he had gotten the night before when Gabumon had called Shion a deserter, and how far away she seemed. In this moment, he found that all he could think about was saving her, and he began to wonder, does Shion mean more to me than just a friend?


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

**:**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 **-CHAPTER FOUR-**

It seemed like Jijimon had thought of everything. Medical supplies, food, water and even a couple of sleeping bags had managed to fit inside the old leather backpack he had given to Jei for the journey. Veemon too carried a small pack filled with emergency supplies; matches, extra bandages and dry paper to shred into kindling for fires during cold nights. Jei had been ready to go for hours, meanwhile Veemon was still running about the hut going back through Jijimon's checklist to make sure they had everything they needed. However, no one had any idea where Kotemon had gone. Jei had fallen back asleep that morning, not for very long, but long enough for Kotemon to slip away, speaking only to Jijimon before he left.

"Yes, I saw him early this morning" Jijimon had said "It seemed like he wanted to be alone for a while. He feels terrible about what happened".

The old backpack weighed heavily on Jei, it felt like he had a one ton weight strapped to his back the whole time he had been standing there. He finally decided to give his spine a break, but no sooner than he had managed to unstrap the hefty load, Veemon had completed Jijimon's checklist and was ready to go. What else did Jijimon cram into this thing? Jei thought to himself. At this rate, he was sure that his back would snap like a twig long before anything inside the leather pack became useful, so he decided to take one last look through the plentifull supplies to see if there was anything that they could risk leaving behind. Food, water, cloth and-

"What the heck?" Jei said baffled.

Rocks. Actual stone rocks rested in the deepest crevices of the old pack. Jei counted no less than four, each easily the size of Veemon's head.

"Uh, Jijimon" Jei asked "what exactly are these for?".

"Sunning stones!" Jijimon said gleefully "They're for drying your garments in the sunlight after washing them. It's a three day journey you know, you don't want to come back smelling like an Ogremon!".

"Sure..." Jei said pretending accept Jijimon's logic.

As soon as Jijimon wasn't looking, Jei hoisted the heavy stones out of the pack and over the window sill. Ever heard of a clothes line? Jei thought to himself. The pack was much liter now, in fact compared to before it felt like carrying nothing at all.

"Good luck to you both" Jijimon said "You are a brave one Jei, of that I'm sure. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise".

"Thanks for everything Jijimon!" Jei said "We won't let you down!".

"Yeah!" Veemon said "You can count on us!".

Jei reached for the door with Veemon following close behind, both ready to begin the long quest ahead of them, but to his surprise, it creaked open before he even touched the handle and a panting Kotemon stepped inside.

"Kid, you're still here!" Kotemon panted "I'm glad I caught you. I want to come with you!"

"Kotemon-" Jei tried to say.

"I know what you're going to say" Kotemon inturrupted "It's too dangerous, we can handle this, but I travel all of the time, I know the lay of the land and I want to make up for what happened".

"Kotemon!" Jei said trying to get a word in "I just wanted to say, of course you're coming with us!".

"Wait, r-really?" Kotemon said surprised "Even though I almost got you killed by Gabumon and his Gazimon thugs?".

"You saved me Kotemon, thats what counts." Jei said "You even digivolved when I needed you most and it got me thinking. Maybe you're supposed to be my partner?".

"Do you really mean that?" Kotemon asked.

"I mean it!" Jei replied "More than anything!".

Jei could see the tears welling in Kotemon's eyes, as if this was the best moment of his life. Veemon too shed a solitary tear, but not for the same reasons. Jei knew that he was thinking about Shion. He also knew that if their mission was successful, that Shion would surely forgive Veemon, even if he couldn't forgive himself for abandoning her when the digimon started turning.

"Don't worry Veemon" Jei said putting his hand on his shoulder "Like you said, we can do this! We'll get Shion back, and all of the others too!".

It was a long road ahead. Jei had had his doubts when he first arrived, but something about this world and the friends he had made gave him courage. He felt like he could do things he would normally be too scared to do, and with the friend that he had thought lost now within his reach, he was more motivated than ever before. The field over which they had crossed the day before seemed bigger going the other way, though that was likely due to the fact that they walked this time around to conserve their energy. As they reached border where the field ended and the forest began, it was immediately familier to Jei. The forest looked as vast as ever, he was sure that if Veemon had not been there that night, he would have become hopelessly lost among the gnarly winding trees in the darkness. Now, with even the small amount of daylight bleeding through the canopy that there was, it seemed like a completely different place.

The forest became more dense the deeper they went. More than once Jei had gotten the old leather backpack stuck among the branches, trying to squeeze through the tight gaps. Veemon and Kotemon didn't have much trouble making it through, their small size made them perfect for scouting ahead, although Kotemon was pulling further and further away.

"Kotemon!" Jei yelled "Slow down, even Veemon is having trouble keeping up!".

It seemed that Kotemon did not hear Jei's pleas as he continued to push on further until they could only catch glimpses of him between the small gaps in the trees.

"Jei, Jei!" Veemon said in urgently, "I think someone is following us!".

"What?" Jei replied "what are you talking about?".

He to look without breaking his stride for fear of falling further behind Kotemon. There was no one around for miles aside from his two digimon companions, although in this part of the forest, it wouldn't be difficult for a follower to go unnoticed behind the trees.

"I don't see anyone" he said trying to comfort his worried friend "besides, who else but us would be way out here?".

Jei turned his attention forward, being careful not to run face first into any trees. Veemon was practically on top of him nw, sticking as close to him as possible. Kotemon was now nowhere in sight, but Jei could still see his etched into the forest floor like a map.

"Kotemon!" Jei yelled "Come back! You're too far ahead!", but there was no reply.

Kotemon's trail became increasingly sporadic and hard to follow as it went on, and Jei couldn't shake the paranoid feeling that something was wrong. He tried his best to follow in his footsteps, but eventually Kotemon's trail cut off altogether. The tracks ended in a small clearing. Jei looked around frantically, trying in vein to catch a glimpse of where Kotemon could have gone.

"Kotemon!" Jei yelled again "Kotemon!".

There was still no reply. He was about to call out to his friend once more, but something stopped him. Strange noises were coming from beyond the clearing, quiet at first, but growing louder as if something was slithering towards them along the forest floor. Jei jumped as he felt something grab a hold of his leg, wrapping itself painfully tight around him, litely tugging as if trying to draw him closer.

"Let go of my leg Veemon!" Jei said "You're hurting me!".

"Uh, Jei..." Veemon replied "That's not me!".

Jei felt panic strike through him like a shot through the heart. The tugging turned to pulling and Jei had to fight to keep his balance. He looked down to see what was clutching his leg, and was horrified to see what looked like a long piece of black cloth reaching up from the ground.

"W-What the!?" Jei screamed, "What is this!?".

Jei's leg was suddenly yanked out from beneath him, knocking him flat on his face. He felt himself being dragged through the dirt, the cloth creeping up his body making it nearly impossible to unravel.

"Jei!" Veemon yelled running after him.

"Veemon!" Jei yelled back "Help me!".

The cloth became even tighter as it continued to envelop him, pulling his arms to his sides and binding them, eliminating any hope of escape. Jei felt a sudden disorientation as he found himself being hoised up into the air, pain rippling through him in waves as his back was slammed against a nearby tree, the cloth becoming entangled in it's branches and around tying itself firmly the trunk, effectively trapping him. Veemon was immediately by his side, tugging and nawing at the dark material holding Jei captive, but to no avail.

"Well, well human" came a voice from the sky "is this a bad time? You look a bit tied up at the moment!".

That voice Jei thought to himself I know that voice! He looked up to see who or what had spoken to him. His head was still spinning from the impact of the tree, but he could make out the a sillouette of a woman soaring above him, and what looked to be enormous wings spread out over the canopy, cloaking it in a cold shadow that made Jei's skin crawl.

"Is that..." Jei started "An angel?".

"Hardly." the voice responded with a giggle.

Jei's eyes began to focus, and as he began to make out the woman's face, he felt his heart drop like a stone. Pale skin, piercing red eyes, cloaked from head to toe in black. It was the female figure he had encountered in the human world, one of the two cloaked creatures that had tried to kill him.

"It can't be!" Jei exclaimed "How did you find me!?".

"The same way we found you before" the woman said.

The womans suddenly swooped down uncomfortably close to Jei, being near to her sent a shiver up his spine. She reached for Jei's front pocket, the dark cloth that bound him to the tree slithering out of the way as she plucked the digivice from within, the wrapping back around him even tigher than before, practically squeezing the life out of him. She held it up to his face with a mocking grin, and as if he wasn't being tormented enough, he suddenly understood.

"You've been tracking the signal from that thing!" Jei realised.

"Jei!" Veemon yelled, his eyes wide with fear "You've seen her before!?".

"Back in my world, just before I came here." Jei replied "She was one of the two psychos that tried to kill me and steal Shion's digivice! She's a Digimon!?".

"Jei, she's not just a Digimon!" Veemon said looking white as a ghost "Thats LadyDevimon, and If she's here, then-".

Veemon's words were cut short as a second figure lunged from behind the trees sweeping him off his feet and pinning to the ground.

"Veemon!" Jei shouted wishing he could reach out to his friend.

"Every queen of darkness has an equally dark king watching her back" the second figure said in a deep, raspy voice.

"Ah, there you are Devimon!" LadyDevimon giggled "I thought you were going to miss all the fun!"

Veemon struggled against Devimon's grip, staring him directly in the eyes and doing everything in his power to show no fear. Jei could see the sweat running down his face, he was terrified, but he remained level headed, it was a side of him that Jei had never seen before.

"They're the ones who corrupted all those Digimon and turned them against their partners!" Veemon shouted "They're being controlled by the virus!".

Veemon was right. Jei looked straight into LadyDevimon's eyes, they were glazed over and fuzzy, buzzing like static on a television set.

"Controlled is such a strong word" LadyDevimon said "I see it more as a symbiotic relationship. We feed the virus and help it grow, in return we recieve as much power as we can handle!".

"Power to do the virus' dirty work!" Veemon snapped "You're nothing more than puppets on a string! You're pathetic!".

"You worthless little imp!" Devimon shouted, tightening his grip.

Jei could hear Veemon's bones beginning to creak under the pressure, the pain making him squeal and squirm, and he was helpless to do anything to stop it. Without Shion, there was no way Veemon could digivolve, and no way he could defend himself.

"Please stop!" Jei yelled, tears welling in his eyes at the sight of his friend in so much pain "Please, don't hurt him, I'm begging you!".

"Wait, you said you just wanted the digivice!" came another voice "Nobody was supposed to get hurt!"

It was Kotemon. The small armored digimon emerged from the foliage where it seemed as though he had been observing all along and ran out into the middle of the clearing to confront the two enormous Digimon.

"K-Kotemon!?" Veemon stuttered over his agony.

"I say a lot of things." LadyDevimon said smugly "As long as this human is here, he's just as much of a threat as this device"

LadyDevimon's fist tightened around the digivice, crushing it into dust in her palm and releasing it into the breeze where it dissipated into nothing.

"Kotemon, you're working for them!?" Jei shouted hoarsely "I trusted you and you led us into a trap!".

"Of course you trusted him" LadyDevimon said with a devilish grin "everybody trusts a hero, thats why we staged your little encounter with Gabumon".

The tears Jei had tried to hard to fight back now rolled down his face in a constant stream, the feeling of betrayal choking him as if there were a rock in his throat.

"What was in it for you, huh!?" Jei cried "Was it worth selling out your world!?".

"Kid I..." Kotemon started "It's not like that, I just don't want to be a slave!"

"The way I see it you already are!" Jei shouted through his tears "You're just as bad as them!".

"Yes, boo hoo, how very sad for you" LadyDevimon mocked "don't worry, you won't feel that way for long, in fact soon you won't feel anything at all!".

LadyDevimon grabbed Jei around his neck, tearing him out of his cloth bindings and slamming him back against the tree, knocking the wind out of him and sending him into a daze. Her hold on his neck tightened as she began literally choking the life out of him. All he could do now was whimper as he tried to scream, his lungs lacking the capacity to cry out, the world around him becoming blurred and distorted.

"Jei!" Kotemon yelled.

There was a bright blinding light coming from the center of the clearing where Kotemon had been standing. It reached to the sky like a beacon, almost completely swollowing the clearing.

"Kotemon, digivolve to..." Kotemon power growing within him "Dinohymon!".

Dinohyumon emerged from the light, stronger than ever, once again in his powerful reptilian form. Jei felt an overwhelming sense of relief as Dinohyumon tore LadyDevimon off of him, forcing her to release him from her deathgrip. Air filled his lungs as he dropped to the ground gasping. He tried to pull himself to his feet, using the base of the tree he has been bound to as a crutch, but he was too dizzy and confused, barely able to catch himself as he fell to his knees. Devimon leapt into action to aid his female counterpart, tossing Veemon into the air like a ragdoll. There was a horrifying crack as Veemon hit the trunk of a tree at break-neck speed, collapsing to the ground motionless, with no signs of life. Dinoyumon was now trying to fend off both of the enormous Digimon and they were quickly beginning to overpower him.

"Go! Get Veemon and run!" Dinohyumon shouted "I'll buy you as much time as I can!".

Jei scrambled to his feet, managing to keep himself upright for but a short while, only to collapse again beside the motionless Veemon as he stumbled to his side. He got back onto his knees, the battle still raging on behind him and reached under Veemon's head a back, taking him carefully in his arms and trying once more to stand. His legs felt weak and pain shot through ever muscle in his body, but this time he managed to remain on his feet. He stumbled through the forest, unsure of where to run. Only one thing was going through is mind. Gotta get away Jei thought to himself gotta get Veemon someplace safe. It wasn't long before Devimon and LadyDevimon were on his tail.

"Oh Jei, where did you go?" LadyDevimon called "Don't you like this game anymore?".

They hadn't spotted him yet, so there was still a chance that he could escape. He ran as fast as he could through the narrow gaps in the trees, bobbing and weaving, trying to make it as difficult as possible for them to find him. Jei was paying too much attention to what was in front of him and failing to notice what was below him. His foot caught the underside of a root half emerging from the ground, sending him tumbling into the dirt and sending Veemon flying a few feet in front of him. He clambered to his friend's side to check on him, but he was still motionless, and Jei couldn't tell if he was breathing. Devimon's voice sounded close behind him, Jei knew it was only a matter of time before they found him cowering among the trees.

"Meet your end with dignity you pathetic human!" Devimon called after him "You can not escape us!".

Jei had no strength left to run, he barely had the strength to hold himself off the ground. He looked around desperately for something, anything that could help them escape and just when he thought all was lost, he saw it. A small burrow in the ground among the roots of a large tree, just big enough for them to squeeze inside. Jei mustered up the last of his energy, dragging the limp Digimon to the twisted shelter that would be their salvation. Jei pushed Veemon through the tangled roots into the safe haven under the tree, he slipped through easily, but Jei didn't have it so easy. He managed to crawl most of the way in, but his foot became entangled, the roots trapping him like a snare.

"This is getting old real quick kid!" LadyDevimon shouted "It's only a matter of time before you end up like your traitorous friend Kotemon!".

After much struggling, Jei finally managed to pull free of the gnarled roots, sliding the rest of the way in with ease and pulling Veemon to the very back of the shelter where they were most there was the most cover. Devimon and LadyDevimon's voices became louder, he knew they were close. Now, cradling his friend in his arms, there was nothing Jei could do now but wait.


	5. CHAPTER FIVE

**:**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 **-CHAPTER FIVE-**

Dawn began creeping over the horizon. After the cold night, even just the narrow rays of light that bled through the roots of the hollowed tree warmed Jei as he gazed passed them into the orange sky. He was still fraught with pain, both physical and emotional from the day before. He had been powerless to do anything, and it killed him inside, made him feel useless. Veemon was still unconcious, his breathing labored and weak, but he was alive. Despite Kotemon's betrayal, Jei still worried for him. In the end, he might have given up his life so that Jei and Veemon could escape, there was no doubting that there truely was a bond between them. In his time in the digital world, Jei had learned that the relationship between a human and a Digimon was symbiotic. The human gains a friend and protector, a bond stronger than any mere friendship and the stronger the bond, the more powerful their Digimon protector becomes, healing faster and fighting harder. Jei feared that without Shion and the bond they shared, Veemon's injuries would take weeks to heal, meanwhile the virus was growing stronger each day. Jei had moved Veemon and himself several times throughout the night, making sleep impossible, constantly fearing that they would be discovered if they stayed in one place too long. Luckily, the forest was full of hollowed trees to hide in, allowing them to escape Devimon and LadyDevimon's wrath. It had been hours without any sign of them, and Jei felt it was finally safe to continue traveling. He did what he could for Veemon's injuries with the supplies they had, and after carefully placing Veemon snugly in the leather pack with only his head sticking out for air, Jei emerged from their haven and journeyed onward.

The trees were beginning to thin out and up ahead, Jei could hear the hushing flow of rapids, not to far ahead. At first he thought it was his tired mind playing tricks on him, but as it got louder, he realised what it was. The river Jei thought to himself we're almost out of here. Indeed, it was the river, Jei gave a relieved sigh at the wide expanse of fresh water streaming before them. He washed his hands in the crystal clear water, which to his surprise was actually quite warm. He watered his parched throat and gathered some for Veemon using an empty jar from the pack. He poured a few drops onto the injured Digimon's face. Veemon flinched, instinctively wiping the drops away from his eyes as he began to come to.

"Veemon!" Jei said softly "Veemon, how do you feel?".

"J-Jei?" Veemon wimpered in response "I... I feel like I was thrown around like a toy and slammed against a wall".

"You're okay!" Jei said hugging his friend "When you were lying there, I thought you were..."

Jei let go, suddenly noticing the tears welling up in Veemon's eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Veemon" Jei said "I didn't hurt you, did I?".

"It's not that" Veemon sniffled "You were almost killed, this time I was right there and there was still nothing I could do. Without Shion I feel so useless, if I hadn't been such a scaredy-mon then-"

"Stop that!" Jei inturrupted "None of that was your fault! If you had stayed, you would have been corrupted too and you could have even hurt her!".

Veemon stopped crying and tried his best to pull himself together.

"You... You're right Jei..." Veemon said rubbing his eyes "but I still feel like theres something I should have done".

"We're doing something right now Veemon." Jei said picking up Veemon in the pack "We're going to get her back'".

It seemed that the only way across the river was an old rotted log that lay across it at it's widest point. On the other side, Jei could see the tops of small buildings peeking out over a short hill and just beyond it, was the ever expanding dark zone, the nothingness left behind in the places ravaged by the virus. They were now two days into their three day travel to limbo island, and both him and Veemon were exhausted from their injuries and lack of sleep. Jei hoped that this village would be a safe place for them to rest before the final stretch of their journey.

The log was slippery, and it creaked under Jei and Veemon's weight. Jei fought ever step of the way to keep his footing, his heart lurching forward as he nearly slipped off into the relentless rapids. When his weak feet finally touched the other side, it was an enormous relief to both him and the Digimon still safely inside the leather pack on his back. Veemon had been unconcious most of the night, but Jei had only an hour or so of rest to go on, and by the time he reached the top of the hill overlooking the village, he collapsed.

"Jei, Jei!" he could hear Veemon shout in his ear "Are you okay?!".

Everything around Jei was spinning out of control, his body finally giving in to fatigue. Just a little rest he thought to himself just a little rest.

Jei awoke in a strange place. He found himself tucked carefully into a cot in a dimly lit room, the only source of light was a few narrow windows along the sand colored walls. Jei nearly lept out of the cot once he realised that he wasn't alone. There were many other cots in the room, most of them empty except for two others beside him. The one right next to Jei was completely covered in blankets, obscuring whoever or whatever was sleeping in it. On the other side he could clearly make out Veemon's familier blue complection. He was sitting up in his cot, wide awake, probably unable to sleep, or afraid to after being in a near comatose state the night before.

"Veemon?" he said creeping out of his cot and walking over to his friend "What happened? Where are we?".

"Jei!" Veemon said softly "You're awake! I was worried when you just collapsed like that. We're in a nursery village, the Koromon found us and their guardian helped carry you here where you'd be safe".

"Guardian?" Jei replied puzzled.

"That would be me" came a voice from across the room.

Jei turned toward the voice to see another Digimon standing in the door way. He was about the same hight as Veemon, had orange reptilian skin and looked almost like a small dinosaur walking up on two legs.

"My name is Agumon" he said "I take care of the young Digimon who live here. You were exhaused when we found you, your friend here has told me about everything thats happened. You guys are lucky to be alive, especially your other friend!".

"Huh?" Veemon said "What do you mean other friend?".

"The one we found in the forest" Agumon replied pointing to the cot covered by blankets "hasn't he woken up yet?"

"In the forest?" Jei asked.

Jei walked back over to the other cot cautiously. It can't be he thought to himself can it? He carefully pulled back the blankets, revealing the small Digimon sleeping underneath.

"Kotemon!" Jei yelled.

"Kotemon!?" said Veemon.

Jei couldn't believe it. There sleeping in the other cot was a broken and battered Kotemon beginning to stir. His injuries were grave, even worse than Veemon's. Bruises covered most of his body and his armor was cracked and dented.

"K-Kid...?" Kotemon said groggily "I-Is that you?".

"Kotemon, yes it's me!" Jei said sitting down across from him "I.. I thought you were..."

"Dead?" Veemon sneared "He diserves to be after what he did!".

"I... I'm so sorry for what happened" Kotemon said weakly "I had no idea they intended to kill you. I was scared and selfish, I just didn't want to be a slave".

"You were willing to give your life to put things right" Jei replied "If you hadn't hadn't given us the chance to escape, we would both be dead".

Veemon jumped over onto Kotemon's cot, wincing a bit from the pain of pressuring his injured joints and almost knocking Kotemon onto the floor. He got right up in Jei's face, his expression cross, practically steaming from the ears as he stared him down. Jei had never seen him like this before.

"Jei, what's wrong with you!?" Veemon snapped "If it weren't for him we wouldn't have needed to escape in the first place!".

"Kid, He's right" Kotemon said weakly "If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been caught up in that mess".

"Kotemon, if you weren't a good Digimon at heart, you wouldn't have been able to digivolve to save me" Jei said pushing back the angry Veemon "We share a bond, I felt it from the first time you digivolved into Dinohyumon, and I know you felt it too".

"Good Digimon don't lead their friends into a trap Jei!" Veemon shouted "Maybe I can't digivolve, but I've been a hundred times the friend Kotemon has!".

"Well at least Kotemon didn't leave his friend for dead!" Jei yelled.

Jei immediately realised what he said. The look of disbelief on Veemon's face further intensified the sting of guilt Jei felt. He hadn't meant a single word of it, but he let his anger get the better of him, and there was no taking it back.

"Look, Veemon, I shouldnt have-" Jei started

All at once, Jei felt a familier searing pain scraping across his face. Veemon was weak and injured, but his claws were sharp and he still had a strong swing. Jei jumped back, grabbing his face, the shock keeping him from feeling the bulk of the pain as his old wound was torn open through his bandages and new onces were etched along side it. He wasn't the only one who had let his anger get the better of him. The room fell silent. Both Kotemon and Agumon simply stared on, their jaws wide open in surprise. Veemon's look of anger faded and was replaced by a look of utter remorse at what he had done. Veemon started to speak, but could only grunt as Kotemon tackled him to the floor, seeming to have regained some of his strength.

"No, Kotemon, don't hurt him!" Jei cried

Kotemon immediately backed off of Veemon. Jei didn't know how to react. He knew Veemon hadn't ment it, but he still couldn't believe he had struck him. He got to his feet and hastily made his way toward the doorway across the room, tears beginning to mix with the blood dripping down his cheeks.

"J-Jei!" Veemon called after him as he picked himself up off the floor "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-".

"I know" Jei said unable to look him in the eye "I... I just need to be alone".

"You should come with me" Agumon said catching up to him and inspecting the wound "theres an infirmary in the building next door".

The nursery village was strange. From the outside, it looked like something out of a Feudal Japan movie. All of the buildings were elegantly designed and decorative lanterns lined the stone roads, but inside, the buildings were surprisingly modern. The building next door was a fully functioning infirmary, well stocked with medical supplies.

"These wounds are deep" Agumon said removing the remenants of the old, torn bandages "much deeper than the old ones. You must have really hit a nerve with Veemon".

"We both let our anger get the better of that" Jei said "He's been a good friend to me since I got here, neither of us meant to hurt eachother".

"Yeah, but you didn't diserve that" Agumon said "If he was at full strength, he could have ripped the flesh off your bones. Come to think of it, everyone around here has been getting angry really easily lately".

"It could be the virus" Jei said "It starts to corrupt Digimon that get too close. Why is everyone still here?".

"Where would we go?" Agumon said as he rebandaged Jei's face "Why would we spend our last days running in fear, delaying the inevitable? When the Children of Destiny were taken prisoner by the very Digimon sworn to protect them, a lot of us just lost hope. We would rather be here with eachother".

"I suppose" Jei said suddenly feeling a bit homesick.

Jei hadn't really thought much about home since he had arrived in the digital world. It was almost like part of him still believed that this was a dream, one he could wake up from at any moment, but now that it came to mind, it was beginning to sink in that he may never see it again.

"Come to think of it" Agumon said "Why is Veemon even with you? Won't he get corrupted if he sets foot into the dark zone?".

"I... I hadn't really thought about that" Jei admitted "I always kind of knew that I may have to continue on alone at some point, but I've gotten used to having Veemon with me, Kotemon too. I don't know if I can do this without alone".

"Maybe you can, maybe you can't" Agumon said "but no one ends up in the digital world by accident. If you succeed in freeing them, then you won't be alone".

With his face properly treated, Jei took some time to walk around the stunning village alone to collect his thoughts. Tomorrow I set out alone he thought to himself, Veemon and Kotemon will understand why. Jei knew he couldn't wander around forever. It was getting late, and he would need his strength for the most difficult part of the journey.

"Kid, you're back!" Kotemon said as Jei returned to the room he had awoken in "are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Jei replied "you look much better too Kotemon, how did you heal so fast?".

"When Veemon hit you, I felt a surge of energy" Kotemon said "You needed protecting".

Veemon was sulking in the corner by Jei's cot, it hadn't looked like he had moved much since Jei had left. Jei walked over and kneeled down next to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Veemon?" Jei said "Veemon, it's okay I know you didn't hurt me on purpose. This close to the virus' devastation, it's making your anger more intense, it isn't your fault".

"Some part of me still thought there was something I could have done" Veemon said "but now I realise that you were right. If I had stayed, I would have hurt Shion".

Veemon got up and wrapped himself around Jei. He could feel the small creature's tears soaking through his shirt.

"You know you can't come with me right?" Jei said "You helped me get this far, but tomorrow I have to go on alone".

"Jei..." Veemon started

"It will be okay Veemon" Jei tried to reassure him "If I succeed, I won't be alone. Once the Children of Destiny are free, they can weaken the virus by cutting off it's food supply. Once it's weakened, maybe it won't be strong enough to control anyone anymore, and then you can help them destroy it at it's core".

"But what if you get hurt out there in the dark zone all alone?" Veemon said "I'm the one who brought you here, what if I was wrong? I don't wanna lose you too Jei!".

"It's like Augmon said to me" Jei said "no one ends up in the digital world by accident. I have to try".

Veemon held Jei tighter, burrying his face in Jei's torso and Kotemon joined in too

"I'm going to save her Veemon" Jei said holding his two friends close "and then we're going to beat this thing".

His body was tired, but his mind was wide awake. For the longest time, Jei just laid there, his thoughts buzzing with what he was about to face. He was sure that Devimon and LadyDevimon hadn't given up their search and out in the dark zone, the ocean of nothingness, there was nowhere to hide, all he could do was run straight for the island, straight for the core of the virus. Jei could feel himself trembling at the thought. It intensified, getting worse and worse until he realised that it wasn't just him shaking. The whole room and indeed the whole village was beginning to shake uncontrollable, like some kind of earth quake. Do they even get earth quakes in the digital world? Jei thought to himself. The shaking got worse still, and Jei had to hand on to the edges of his cot to keep from falling out. Both Veemon and Kotemon sprung out of their cots, the still weak Veemon almost collapsing as he landed.

"Kid!" Kotemon yelled. "W-Whats going on!?"

Jei ran to the window, fighting to keep upright as the shaking continued to intensify. Jei's eyes widened as he saw what was happening outside. The growth of the dark zone was accelerating and heading straight for them, the buildings of the village in it's wake being torn up from the ground and then disappearing altogether with only a fine dust in the air left behind. Jei winced as he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in hes leg. He instinctively tried to kick it off, with no such luck. He turned to see what was causing him so much pain, and was shocked to see Veemon knawing on his leg.

"Veemon, what are you doing!?" Jei yelled.

Veemon didn't respond. Jei looked him straight in the eyes, and immediately knew why. His eyes were fuzzy, just like LadyDevimon's, his expression blank and unreadable. A spike of pain came over Jei as Kotemon grabbed Veemon by his hind legs and pulled him off of him, followed by relief to have his sharp teeth out of his flesh.

"Kotemon!" Jei said "If Veemon is corrupted, why isn't it affecting you!?".

"I-" Kotemon tried to say.

The rest of his sentance was completely drowned out as the building they were in broke apart, luckily disintigrating into dust before the debris collapsed on them.

"Kid, we have to run!" Kotemon said "Theres about to be a whole village of corrupted Digimon after us if we don't go!".

"Where!?" Jei shouted "There's nowhere to hide, everything is gone!".

"This dust will take a while to clear" Kotemon replied "We can use it as cover and make a break for it!".

"But the Virus" Jei said "Why isn't it affecting you!?".

"Kid, now isn't the time, you're going to have to trust me!" Kotemon yelled "We have to go!".

Jei hesitated, but nodded, showing his faith in Kotemon. After everything that had happened up to this point, Jei would follow him anywhere. It was horrifying to see the once beautiful village reduced to nothing but specks of dust in the air. He could still hear the destruction going on behind them as the dark zone continued, nothing slowing it down. How did it get so fast!? Jei thought to himself How long before it consumes everything!? He hated leaving Veemon behind, but in his current state, it was too dangerous to bring him and they didn't have time to restrain him.

"Kotemon, digivolve too..." Kotemon said as his voice deepened and his body changed forms "Dinohyumon!".

Kotemon digivolved into Dinohyumon without breaking stride as he and Jei continued to flee the collapsing village.

"Get onto my back!" Dinohyumon said "I can run faster, time is of the essence!".

Jei grabbed Dinohyumon's outreached hand as they ran, feeling a bit jarred as the newly transformed Digimon hoisted him onto his back. Jei closed his eyes and held on tight, the feral sounds of the now corrupted Digimon that hunted them echoing into the nothingness as they raced towards their journey's end.


	6. CHAPTER SIX

**:**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 **-CHAPTER SIX-**

For miles around it was as if everything had just simply ceased to exist. The dust and debris had provided only a few vital moments of cover which Jei and Dinohyumon had used to escape. Now as the remenants of the once beautiful village dissipated into thin air, they found an entire hoard of corrupted digimon hot on their trail. Jei desperately clung to Dinohyumon's back as he ran, carrying the both of them towards the only landmark left in sight. Limbo island.

"Agh!" Dinohyumon yelled "something's biting my leg!".

Dinohyumon grunted in agony but didn't break his stride. Jei kept his eyes sealed shut, too terrified to look back at the creatures that persued them. They were mere shadows of the Digimon who had taken him in and helped him just hours ago, now forced to hunt him, driven by the will of the virus. Dinohyumon grunted again, this time almost toppling over from the pain, barely managing to keep himself and Jei upright.

"Jei, if I stop running those guys will be all over us!" he said "I need you to kick off whatever is biting me!".

Jei hesitated, still too afraid to look, but his friend was in pain and needed his help. Slowly he opened his eyes and turned down to see what was attacking them, and he immediately wished he had kept them shut.

"It... Its.." Jei stuttered "It's Veemon!".

The corrupted Veemon had latched his teeth and claws onto Dinohyumon's anckle, digging them deeper and causing him more pain the more he ran.

"I... I'm sorry Jei!" Dinohyumon yelled back "You have to kick him off or we're both going down!".

"I can't!" Jei screamed "I-I just can't!".

"Jei, if we go down there's no hope for him!" Dinohyumon shouted, "We're the only ones left that can beat this thing!".

Jei was ready to burst into tears, but he had to hold himself together. If not, the whole of the digital world and his own world would pay the price.

"I'm sorry Veemon" Jei sniffed, "I'm so sorry".

Jei kicked down with all his might, cringing as he felt the bottom of his boot hit Veemon who was still knawing on Dinohyumon's anckle below. He kicked again and finally, Dinohyumon winced as Veemon's teeth and claws came loose from his leg sending him tumbling off, immediately lost in the sea of corrupted digimon steadily catching up to them. Dinohyumon started running faster, no longer hindered by the pain of Veemon's sharp teeth. Limbo Island was finally almost within reach. Just a bit further Jei thought to himself, we're going to make it, we have to!

"Dinohyumon!" Jei yelled to his friend, "What do we do once we reach the island? How are we going to lose these guys?".

"I don't know," Dinohyumon yelled back, "but we can't give up! The digital world is collapsing and your world is next! We're the only ones left, we have to keep going!".

Things looked grim, but Jei couldn't help but feel confidence in his partner's determination. After everything that had happened, they were almost there, Limbo Island's threshold finally within reach.

"Right" Jei said "Let's finish this, for both worlds! For Veemon and Shion!".

Dinohyumon gave a determined grunt, speeding up and quickly closing the gap between them and the island. They had made it.

Even as they hit the shore of the island, Dinohyumon didn't break momentum. He kept running, searching around desperately for a place to conceal himself and Jei. The twisted landscape didn't seem to offer any protection from enemy eyes, and the only shelters in sight were nothing but wire frames and half rendered data. Dinohyumon turned around, expecting to be overrun by a crowed of corrupted Digimon, bracing himself and trying his best to shield the small human on his back.

"What the heck?" Dinohyumon panted in surprise.

They were there alright, hundreds of them, if not thousand, but they did not attack, they simply stood there, motionless and unresponsive. Suddenly Dinohyumon felt movement on his back as Jei began climbing off.

"Kid! Kid what are you doing?" Dinohyumon snapped, "It's not safe!".

"I think its okay..." Jei said stepping down onto the ground, "It's like they're frozen place!".

It was as if they had been switched off. The corrupted Digimon simply stared blankly at them, watching their every move.

"I don't like this" Dinohyumon said "They're slave to virus, they should be swarming like mindless drones!".

"But they aren't" Jei remarked "Which means...".

"We are likely walking into a trap" Dinohyumon said stating what Jei was thinking.

Jei scanned the crowd one last time, trying in vein to see Veemon among them. Don't worry Veemon Jei thought to himself, I'll save her for both of us.

Limbo Island was like something out of a fever dream. Everywhere he looked, Jei saw twisted and distorted wire frames where buildings once stood, trees and grass torn up from the soil, floating in mid air and many different landscapes all twisted together, creating a Picasso esque landscape.

"We have no way of knowing exactly what the virus core looks like" Dinohyumon said, "but it will be in the dead center of this "island", if you can call it that".

"Kotemon, er I mean, Dinohymon" Jei corrected himself "If the virus destroys everything in its path, then why is all this still here?".

"Well kid" Dinohyumon explained, "Think of it like a computer virus. It has to attach itself to something. If it deleted the file it was joined with, or in this case Limbo Island, it would also delete itself".

Jei mostly understood what Dinohyumon was saying, though he thought it to be a loose analogy.

"I see, but it's more complicated than that right?" Jei asked, "I mean, you can't really compare the destruction of a whole word to deleting data off a harddrive".

"It's all the same thing here kid" Dinohyumon said "You should understand that by know, this is the Digital World, everything you see is mere data, even me".

"Even Veemon?" Jei asked.

Jei immediately wished he hadn't mentioned Veemon. Not only did the thought of his corrupted friend weigh him down, but he could see look of guilt on Dinohyumon's face and understood the pain he felt being unable to save him.

"Dinohyumon..." Jei started, "You never told me how you were able to escape the effects of the virus and Veemon wasn't".

Dinohyumon seemed to wince at the subject, his expression growing even more tense, his eyes overflowing with guilt. It was obvious that it was a conversation he wanted to avoid, but Jei didn't understand why.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Jei asked, "What is it you're afraid to tell me?".

Dinohyumon remained silent, his expression somewhere between dread and utter shame.

"Talk to me!" Jei shouted.

"Alright..." Dinohyumon sighed, "Just please, try to understand!".

"Understand what?" Jei said in a much harsher tone.

Dinohyumon flinched as Jei raised his voice. Even with all the strength he possessed in his champion form, Jei's frustration still unnerved him. The Digimon pulled a pointed stoned from a small leather pouch he carried on his side and presented it to him. It was like polished crystal, but still jagged and sharp at the end and it gave off a soft warm glow that was almost hypnotising.

"What... What is it?" Jei asked, "What does it do?".

"Its called a data stabilizer" Dinohyumon said, "It's basically the equivalent of an anti-virus, they're rare, almost impossible to find. This was to be my payment for-".

"Your deal with the virus" Jei inturrupted.

There was a long period of silence. Jei didn't hold Dinohyumon's actions against him, he had redeemed himself in his eyes, but there was something else that he couldn't understand.

"Wait" Jei snapped "you've had this all along!?".

"Kid, you don't understand-" Dinohyumon started.

"You're right, I don't understand!" Jei shouted, "You had that this whole time and you still let Veemon get corrupted!?".

Jei was getting angrier and angrier. He had put all of his trust in Dinohyumon, in Kotemon, even after what he had done, he trusted him, but to Jei this changed everything. How could he keep this to himself? Jei thought How could he!?

"Kid, please just listen!" Dinohyumon said interrupting Jei's anger fueled rant, "It doesn't work that way! It was bound to me from the time I recived it! It can only protect one!".

Jei clenched his fist. As mad as he was, he still trusted Dinohyumon and the bond they shared.

He knew he wouldn't lie to him.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am about Veemon" Dinohymon said, "I swear if there was anything I could have done-"

Dinohyumon was cut off as he suddenly felt Jei's tiny arms wrap around him him, nearly knocking the wind out of him, which was no small feat in his current form.

"I know" Jei said trying to hold back his tears, "I'm sorry".

Dinohyumon embraced Jei, hugging his partner tight.

"We'll save him kid" Dinohymon said, "I promise".

As they trekked along the ever changing terrain, Jei could see all of the different environments converging on one another in the distance, winding around eachother into a small mountain seemingly in the dead center of the island. As he looked up to see its peak, his gaze met with a blinding white light that blurred his vision and stung his eyes. It was like looking directly at an eclipse. It was nearly impossible to make anything out, but from what Jei could see, the source of the light seemed to be a large dark sphere at the mountain's highest point, surrounded in an ominous white glow that, as bright as it was, cast no shadows and seemed to shine through even solid stone.

"what the hell is that!" Jei said trying to blink away the cloudiness from his eyesight.

"You know kid" Dinohyumon said using one of his large clawed hands to shield his eyes. "I'd bet that its exactly what we're looking for".


	7. CHAPTER SEVEN

**DIGIMON WORLD:**

 **CHILDREN OF DESTINY**

 _A Fanfiction By DaekerCroft_

 **-CHAPTER SEVEN-**

Jei shielded his eye, turning his head slightly to keep the light from shining directly onto his face. A steady beam of light was piercing the dark sphere, running from the ground high up into the sky where the virus' dark cloud loomed over the mangled remains of the digital world.

"That's it" Dinohyumon said looking straight into the blinding gaze, "that's it's power source. Everything in the digital world that the virus has destroyed is running through that data stream, being corrupted and used as food to make it stronger".

Jei was unsure of what he felt. Afraid? Determined? Maybe a good mixture of both. The stakes of the situation were beginning to sink in like a jagged piece of glass breaking skin. All of the technical malfunctions in the real world were linked to the virus' destruction of the digital world. If one ceases to exist, the other would be thrown into chaos.

"She's in there, isn't she" Jei said stepping forward, "She's still alive, I can feel it".

A cold shadow falling across the environment caught Jei off guard, causing him to spin on his heels and nearly trip over the warped landscape.

"What the hell!?" Jei exclaimed looking all around.

"Oh look darling!" came a shrill female voice, "It's our little playmates! It seems we are one short this time".

"Oh crap" Jei said with a sudden recognision, "It's them...".

He turned back towards the mountain and saw two tall dark figures blocking out the light from the data stream, their shadows cast over limbo island, obscuring everything around it like a black hole from which no light could escape.

"How rude of you to just run out on us Jeishita!" LadyDevimon cackled, "If you wanted to play tag you should have just said so!".

In an instant, both of the figures on the mountain lept into the sky and torpedoed straight towards them.

"Tag!" LadyDevimon shrieked as she tackled Dinohymon into the air and pinned him against a twisted rock face, "you're it!".

Devimon swooped passed Jei who tumbled back, narrowly avoiding the corrupted digimon's reach but landing square on his back.

"We brought along a little friend of yours" Devimon hissed as his feet touched the ground, "Although you may not recognize him, he's gone through a bit of a growth spurt!".

A third figure now towered over Jei who was still struggling to get up. Jei scrambled trying to get to his feet, but before he had the chance, he felt two hands firmly grip his shoulders, hoisting him up so that the tips of his toes just barely brushed against the ground as he kicked frantically trying to break free from the digimon's grasp.

"Whats the matter Jei?" his captor said, "Not scared of your friend are ya?".

"W-What the hell are you talking about!?" Jei stuttered still struggling to free himself, "Who the hell are you!?".

"Heh" the digimon gave a dark chuckle, "penny in the air Jei, penny in the air".

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Jei thought to himself. The digimon before him was tall and dark, though not quite Dinohyumon's height. His eyes had the same corrupted static as all the rest, and his stomach was marked in the shape of an 'x'. Jei had no idea who this digimon was, although he could not shake a disturbing feeling of familierity when he looked at him. Come to think of it, he almost looked like...

"V-Veemon!?" Jei said, the sudden realisation hitting him like a brick wall.

"And the penny drops" the digimon replied with a smirk, "but I assure you, it's BlackExVeemon now. What do you think Jei? It's a whole new me. This virus has made me more powerful than I ever was with that immature brat Shion".

"How can you say that!" Jei yelled.

The two were suddenly inturrupted by a large commotion as Dinohyumon broke free from LadyDevimon's death grip and sent here spiraling straight into Devimon, blind-siding him and leaving both dazed in a pile on the ground. While BlackExVeemon was distracted by the spectacle, Jei delivered a desperate kick directly into the digimon's knee and finally broke free.

"Oh no you don't" BlackExVeemon hissed, "I'm not finished with you, ya Justimon wannabe!".

BlackExVeemon recovered from the blow almost immediately and darted after Jei, paying no attention to Dinohymon who came running out of left field, tackling the corrupted digimon and pinning him down with his arms behind his back to prevent any attempts at retaliating.

"Kid, take this!" Dinohyumon said tossing the data stablizer over to Jei, "I can't hold this guy forever and Gomez and Morticia over there aren't gonna be out for long. That thing isn't just a one trick pony, with it you can move in and out of the data stream without consiquence. If Shion's data is still in one piece, you can bring here back, along with any other chosen kids who are still alive in there!".

"But what about you!?" Jei cried

"I'll be fine!" Dinohyumon said struggling to keep BlackExVeemon still, "But you have to go now!".

"Promise me!" Jei said trying not to tear up, "promise me you're going to be okay!".

Dinohymon didn't speak, he just looked down clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white, somehow still managing to put the bulk of his strength into keeping the corrupted digimon pinned.

"Kid, just go" Dinohyumon said, "maybe it isn't up to us to defeat this thing, but we still have destinies of our own to fulfill, and this is where mine has led me. Bring 'em home kid, bring 'em home so they can end this!".

Jei gave a slow nod of understanding. He could feel his eyes strain as they tried to water, but for the first time since all of this started he simply had no tears left, and anyways he was sick of blubbering like an infant. Jei hated goodbyes, so in this instant a different set of words came to mind.

"See you on the other side" Jei said.

Jei had lived a fairly uneventful life, there was never a moment before where he felt truly uncertain, but now in this moment, there was almost nothing he was certain about except for one thing;

"this is what I have to do".

Jei struggled to keep his grip on the final stretch of the mountain. The blood was rushing in his ears from the steep acent, but even so he could still hear Dinohyumon delivering an endless flurry of attacks far below. At least that means he's still alive Jei thought to himself as he hoisted himself up onto the cliff where the virus core was still eating away at the world around them. As he stood, he saw before him the dark sphere pulsating, almost as if it were aware of his presence. As he stepped closer, he could have sworn that he could hear a faint symphony of voices calling out to him. He reached out, expecting to collide with the sphere, but to Jei's surprise, the surface broke and movie away from him almost as if it were some king of viscous black tar. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and continued forward, the sphere's surface moving away and opening up almost like a giant mouth with no teeth. Just as he crossed the threshold, the sphere quickly moved back into it's original shape, the mouth snapping shut and trapping him inside. Suddenly it felt as if he had been set on fire, or perhaps it was more like a cold burn, similar to the feeling one experiences as frostbite begins to set in. He was being consumed by the virus, broken down into bytes and merged with it's programming.

Jei closed his eyes wishing for it to be over as the sensation became more intense, but just when it was becoming nearly unbarable, it stopped. When Jei opened his eyes, he was in an endless white space, a significant contrast to the dark nothingness that remained of the Digital World outside of this place. The voices from before were now much louder, so much so that Jei could almost make out what they were saying, but there were too many to discern any single voice. Jei's attention turned to a figure in the distance moving towards him. After everything he had been through, his first instinct was to back away and prepare to retreat, but as the figure got closer, and he could see them properly he could hardly able to believe his eyes.

"Shion!" he as his friend collided with him, wrapping her arms tightly around him,

"Jei!" Shion cried as she embraced her friend, "It's really you, I knew you could find us!".


End file.
